1. Field
The present invention relates to an information provision technique, and particularly to an information provision apparatus that provides information related to an item used by a user, and a management client.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been a technique of classifying, by user attribute, users (customers) using a shop or a commercial product, and creating marketing information by aggregating the number of sales of the commercial product for each user attribute. For example, in a shop (sushi-go-round restaurant), commercial products (sushi items) ordered by customers are recorded into a database together with customer segment information such as genders, age groups, and constituent members of the customers, and the data are aggregated, so that a customer segment-based commercial product order ranking is created (e.g., refer to JP 2010-231390 A). In addition, there is a technique of detecting location information of a plurality of mobile terminal devices, grouping mobile terminals having common location information over a predetermined time interval, and providing the group with optimum information (e.g., refer to JP 2004-320217 A).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2010-231390
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-320217
When a user visits a shop, in some cases, the user acts independently, and in other cases, the user acts in a group such as a family, friends, or people at work. In the technique described in JP 2010-231390 A, customers can be classified using classifications such as single customer, male-and-female pair, family, male group, and female group, as constituent members. In addition, in the technique described in JP 2004-320217 A, the type of a group (married couple, parent and child, family, etc.) is estimated by combining personal information. On the other hand, in a case in which the user acts in a group and a shop or a commercial product is selected, the power of influence of each member on such decision-making is not always equal, and in many cases, it varies depending on members. Nevertheless, a difference in the power of influence of members on the selection of a shop or a commercial product has not been considered so far.